A few weekends ago, Danielle, Steph and I decided to spend our Saturday mornings doing yoga on The National Mall. There's nothing quite like vinyasa-ing to the Washington Monument, right? ;) ... View Post

Quote of the day: "Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans."
Today, I finally heard about the status of my graduate school application. In a quick recap: I currently work a 9-5 job in finance, but am pursing my dream of becoming a Registered Dietitian. I applied to graduate school last year, and finally heard the results today.
The story of how I got here begins during my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In high school, I decided that I wanted to be a doctor and started college as a 'pre-med' major. The highly sugar-coated and unrealistic version of what that would mean came from my obsession with the TV show Grey's Anatomy. It wasn't until my classes started at Madison that I started to doubt my future aspirations.
Pre-med classes ... View Post

Hi friends!
If you haven't been keeping up with the weather in DC, here's what we got a few nights ago:
SNOW! In the middle of March. It's depressing.
^^^ Alex and I taking shelter under a bus stop as we desperately searched for a cab after the Ellie Goulding concert <-------which, by the way, was amazing.
But, there's one good thing about the cold, dreary weather (okay, two if you include cappuccinos): soup! ... View Post

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
It snowed about 8 inches last night - enough to shut down the government, again! In order to celebrate, I made my own version of mint chocolate chip 'ice cream.' I'm having some trouble walking today because I am so sore from my 1/2 marathon on Saturday. The cure? Ice cream, of course. But not just any ice cream. Healthy 'ice cream.'
In fact, it's my healthy Mint Chocolate Chip 'Ice Cream' recipe.
It's dairy free (minus the shredded chocolate) and is made with vegetables and fruits.
Wait, what? ... View Post

for the past few years, i've struggled with trying to pinpoint what i really want to do with my life. some weeks I wanted to be a journalist, or a lawyer. others weeks a social worker, or maybe even a therapist. the list goes on.
when it comes to making decisions (even something as small as my drink flavor) i normally have to mull it over for a looooong time before deciding. even after, i often go through periods of hesitation or doubt that i made the right decision.
three years ago, moving back to dc - and into a job that i didn't particularly love- should have been a tough decision. but it wasn't. that decision was easy because it meant that, despite the awful economy, i had a job with a steady pay check. plus, i got ... View Post

Hello and welcome!

I'm LAUREN, and I started Just a Pinch in 2014 when I was applying to graduate school to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. In 2017, I started my own small business, Nutrition Elevated, LLC, to help share the breadth of knowledge I learned as a nutrition graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle!